and fly them to Israel for
children of all faiths who have been traumatized by war and illness.

It all
began with one Build a Bear in the Fall of 2002 at Congregation Beth Israel
Religious School in Bergenfield. The
idea for Bears From Bergenfield was born more than 12 years ago when my son,
Sam Goldstein, himself was hospitalized.
Can you imagine a life without toys to play with or teddy bears to hug? Well neither
could Sam or the rest of us at Cong. Beth Israel in Bergenfield, NJ. It was his idea to collect slightly used
stuffed toys. We were hoping to collect 100. That was 12 years ago and 158,000
toys ago.